Reviewing the Journey: Numbers 33

במדבר ל״ג:א׳-ב׳ Numbers 33:1-2 .1 These were the marches of the ֜ ֵא ֶלה ַמ ְס ֵ֣עי ְב ֵנֽי־יִ ְש ָר ֗ ֵאל ֲא ֶ֥שר יָ ְצ ֛או ֵמ ֶ֥א ֶרץ ,who started out from the land of Egypt ִמ ְצ ַ֖ריִם ְל ִצ ְבא ֹ ָ֑תם ְביַד־מ ֹ ֶ֖שה וְא ֲה ֽר ֹן׃ וַיִ ְכ ֨ת ֹב troop by troop, in the charge of Moses and מ ֹ ֜ ֶשה ֶאת־מו ָצ ֵאי ֶ֛הם ְל ַמ ְס ֵעי ֶ֖הם ַעל־ ִ֣פי ה' Aaron. Moses recorded the starting points of וְ ֵ֥א ֶלה ַמ ְס ֵעי ֶ֖הם ְלמו ָצ ֵאי ֶ ֽהם׃ their various marches as directed by the LORD. Their marches, by starting points, were as follows:

רש"י על במדבר ל״ג:א׳ Rashi on Numbers 33:1 .2 )א( אלה מסעי. ָל ָמה נִ ְכ ְתבו ַה ַמ ָסעות THESE ARE THE JOURNEYS אלה מסעי (1) ַה ָללו? ְלהו ִדי ַע ֲח ָס ָדיו ֶשל ָמקום, ֶשא ַע" ִפ — [STAGES) [OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL) ֶש ָג ַזר ֲע ֵלי ֶהם ְל ַט ְל ְט ַלם וְ ַל ֲהנִי ָעם ַב ִמ ְד ָבר, Why are these stations recorded here? In לא ת ֹא ַמר ֶש ָהיו נָ ִעים ו ְמ ֻט ְל ָט ִלים ִמ ַמ ָסע order to make known the loving acts of the Omnipresent: that although He had decreed ְל ַמ ָסע ָכל א ְר ָב ִעים ָשנָה וְלא ָהיְ ָתה ָל ֶהם against them to make them move about and ְמנו ָחה, ֶש ֲה ֵרי ֵאין ָכאן ֶא ָלא א ְר ָב ִעים ו ְש ַתיִם wander in the wilderness, you should not ַמ ָסעות, ֵצא ֵמ ֶהם י"ד ֶש ֻכ ָלם ָהיו ְב ָשנָה think that they wandered and moved about ִראשונָה קֹ ֶדם ְג ֵז ָרה, ִמ ֶשנָ ְסעו ֵמ ַר ְע ְמ ֵסס ַעד without cessation from one station to ֶש ָבאו ְל ִר ְת ָמה ֶש ִמ ָשם נִ ְש ַת ְלחו ְמ ַר ְג ִלים, another station all the forty years, and that ֶשנֶ ֱא ַמר "וְא ַחר נָ ְסעו ָה ָעם ֵמ ֲח ֵצרות" וְגו' they had no rest, for you see that there are here only forty-two stages. Deduct from )במדבר י"ב(, " ְש ַלח ְלך ֲאנָ ִשים" וְגו' )שם them fourteen, all of which were their י"ג(, וְ ָכאן )פסוק י"ח( הוא או ֵמר "וַיִ ְסעו stopping places in the first year after they ֵמ ֲח ֵצר ֹת וַיַ ֲחנו ְב ִר ְת ָמה", ָל ַמ ְד ָת ֶש ִהיא ,.left Egypt, before the decree was made, viz ְב ִמ ְד ַבר ָפא ָרן; וְעוד הו ֵצא ִמ ָשם ח' ַמ ָסעות from the time when they journeyed from ֶש ָהיו ְלא ַחר ִמי ַתת א ֲהר ֹן — ֵמהֹר ָה ָהר ַעד Rameses until when they came to Rithmah ַע ְרבות מואב — ִב ְשנַת ָהא ְר ָב ִעים, נִ ְמ ָצא whence the spies were sent out — as it is said. (Numbers 12:16): “And afterwards the ֶש ָכל ְשמונֶה ו ְשל ִשים ָשנָה לא נָ ְסעו ֶא ָלא people journeyed from Hazeroth, [and ֶע ְש ִרים ַמ ָסעות, ֶזה ִמיסודו ֶשל ַר ִבי מ ֹ ֶשה. ,[encamped in the wilderness of Paran וְ ַר ִבי ַתנְחו ָמא ָד ַרש בו ְד ָר ָשה א ֶח ֶרת: ָמ ָשל ,whereupon the Lord said unto Moses ְל ֶמ ֶלך ֶש ָהיָה ְבנו חו ֶלה וְהו ִליכו ְל ָמקום ָרחוק Numbers 13:2) "Send thee men [who may) ְל ַרפ ֹאתו, ֵכיוָן ֶש ָהיו חו ְז ִרין ִה ְת ִחיל א ִביו search out the land]”; and here (v. 18) it מונֶה ָכל ַה ַמ ָסעות, א ַמר לו, ָכאן יָ ַשנְנו, ָכאן states, “and they journeyed from Hazeroth הו ַק ְרנו ָכאן ָח ַש ְש ָת ֶאת ר ֹא ְשך וְכו and they encamped in Rithmah”, so you learn that it (Rithmah) is in the wilderness of :' , Paran. — Further deduct from them the eight stages which were after Aaron’s death viz., those from Mount Hor to the plains of Moab in the fourtieth year (v. 38). It follows that during the whole of the thirty eight years they made only twenty journeys. This is excerpted from the work of R. Moses the Preacher. — R. Tanchuma gave another explanation of it (of the question why these stages are here recorded). A parable! It may be compared to the case of a king whose son was ill and whom he took to a distant place to cure him. When they returned home the father began to enumerate all the stages, saying to him, “Here we slept, here we caught cold, here you had the head-ache, etc.” (Midrash Tanchuma 4:10:3).

3. Moses Maimonides, Guide for the Perplexed With reference to such passage, I will first state a general principle and then proceed to discuss them separately … Every narrative in the serves a certain purpose in connection with religious teaching. It either helps to establish a principle of faith, or to regulate our actions, and to prevent wrong and injustice among men ... When we therefore come across narratives in the Torah which have no connection with any of the commandments, we are inclined to think that they are entirely superfluous, or too lengthy, or repetitious; but this is only because we do not see the particular details which make those narratives noteworthy. Of this kind is the enumeration of the stations of the Israelites in the wilderness. At first sight, it appears to be entirely useless. To remove such a misconception the Torah states: "And Moses wrote their goings forth, stage by stage, by the commandment of the Lord." It was indeed most necessary that these should be recorded. For miracles are only convincing to those who witnessed them; coming generations, who know them only at second hand may consider them as figments of the imagination ... Now the greatest of all miracles in the Torah is the stay of the Israelites in the wilderness for forty years with a daily supply of manna. This wilderness as described in the Torah consisted of places "wherein were fiery serpents and scorpions and drought, where there was no water;" places very remote from cultivated land and naturally not adapted for the habitation of man.... All these phenomena were miraculous and public. But God knew that in future people might doubt the authenticity of these miracles ... In order to remove all these doubts, and to establish firmly the accuracy of the account of these miracles, the Torah enumerates all the stations, so that coming generations may see them, and learn the greatness of the miracle which enabled human beings to live in these places forty years. 4. Rabbi Shai Held, The Heart of Torah, Volume 2 We are often tempted to think that one of the many things we do is "real life," while everything else represents a distraction or - at best - a means of facilitating the activities we really value: Our work is what's essential, and everything else is at best a diversion and at worst a distraction. Or our family is what's essential, and everything else is at best a diversion and at worst a distraction. Or any one of a thousand other things is what is significant; none of our other endeavors really matters - and certainly not in any ultimate way. .... A talmudic teaching suggests a different point of view: "Bar Kappara expounded: What short text is there upon which all the essential principles of Torah depend? 'In all your ways know God, and God will make your paths smooth' (Prov 3:6)" (BT, Berakhot 63a) … Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook (1865-1935) puts forward an ... interpretation of what it means to know God in all our ways...: "the truth is that there is nothing in the world that is not for the honor of the Blessed Holy One, hence everything one does will be according to God's commandment and will - and in each action one should search for God..." We serve God, in other words, by being fully present wherever we are … Numbers 33 lists 42 places, some of them seemingly eminently forgettable, to teach a subtle but critical lesson: We can know God, and serve God, at every stop along our way.

5. Rabbi Levi Yitzhak of Berdichev, Kedushat Levi, commentary by Rabbi Jonathan Slater Among the forty-two journeys that Israel journed it says, "They encamped in Haradah" (Num. 33:24), "they encamped in Mithkah" (v. 38), "they encamped at Mount Shepher" (v. 23). When Israel camped in a location at which were located debased fears (may the Merciful preserve us), they would then serve the blessed One with fear of God's exaltedness, trembling before God's awesomeness and glorious power. Thus, it says, "they encamped in Haradah [in trembling fear]," that is, the quality of fear, and they there had to serve the blessed Creator with that quality. And when they encamped in a place at which was found debased love that had fallen in the original shattering, they would then serve God with true love. Thus, it says, "they encamped in Mithkah [sweetness]," in the quality of love. So also, "they encamped at Mount Shepher [beauty]," in the quality of beauty. In this manner, they would raise up all the sparks that had fallen there, to their source, to the source of holiness. This was the primary purpose of Israel's travels in the wilderness. This is why Moses used the term "starting points" (motza'eihem, related to the word for "bringing out" and "finding"): this refers to the process of raising the sparks that they found and bringing them out from their husks. Commentary: We generally think of Israel's travels in the wilderness as "wandering," as just a way of "killing time" until the generation of died off. Instead, here we are told that the travels were intentional and that Israel accomplished great work on the way. They traveled from place to place, there identifying and connecting with a particular divine spark buried, hidden, swallowed up in the husks of the wilderness. They used different techniques to raise up each different sort of debased spark, to return it again to its holy state, according to its source. Would Israel have been able to accomplish the same repairs in the wilderness if they had entered the Land quickly, as originally had been intended?

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